Government officials praise Christ at Christmas but persecute His followers!
In Iran, Christians especially Christian converts, struggle with all kinds of security pressures and legal actions, but with Christmas approaching, government officials congratulate the birth of “Jesus Christ” to his followers!
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, secretary of the Guardian Council, congratulated Christ on Wednesday, December 22, and said: “Our devotion to Jesus as Muslims is no less than that of Christians.”
A number of other officials of the Islamic Republic, including Zabihullah Khodaeian, spokesman for the judiciary, also congratulated Jesus Christ in official meetings in the days leading up to Christmas, but what is clear is that pressures and restrictions on Christians in Iran have increased.
In Iran, Christians, especially Christian converts, grapple with all kinds of security pressures and legal confrontations and face organized discrimination and insults, but as Christmas and New Year approaches, government officials with their hypocritical behavior, recall their belief in “Jesus Christ” and congratulate his followers on his birthday!
In Iran, not only Christian converts but also Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, who are Iranian Christians, face security crackdowns.
Savada Aghasar is an Armenian citizen who was arrested in Karaj in 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “acting against national security by propagating Christianity” and “conspiracy.”
Rev. Victor Bet Tamers, one of the leaders of the Assyrian Pentecostal Church in Shahr-e-Ara, Tehran, and his wife, Shamiram Issavi, and their son, Rameil, faced years of severe security and judicial pressure and were eventually forced to leave Iran.
It is worth mentioning that Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr was one of the most prominent leaders of the Church of the Assemblies of God in Iran, and in 2003 was a tragic victim of the crimes of the Islamic Republic.
In Iran, Christians not only do not have the right to be employed in government institutions and organizations but also their personal lives are interfered with or they face various forms of restrictions.
In recent years, thousands of Assyrian, Chaldean, and Armenian citizens, desperate for a change in their situation in Iran, have left their homes and migrated to other countries.
43 years have passed since the revolution, and Iranian Christians have not been allowed to build one church. However, the officials of the Islamic Republic always claim that Iran is the safe haven for religious minorities!